America was awash in blood at the weekend. Even Freud, who had strong views concerning vampires and the oral stage, might have been stroking his beard in perplexity over the nation's love affair with bloodsuckers.

Twilight, a film version of Stephanie Meyer's best-selling book about young vampire love, is the box office's latest mega-hit, expected to take $75 million here on its first weekend.

More drippy than rippy, it's about a teenage high-school girl who falls in love with a young vampire who is almost as wet as she is.

She wants to be with him rather than her own kind, which, given that she lives in Forks, Washington - "logging capital of the world" - is not incomprehensible.

The current hit television drama True Blood is also about a decent, misunderstood vampire trying to rub along with intolerant rednecks without going for those necks.

There are already American academics out there trying to understand the US vampire thing. I can find two leading schools of thought: the first - and it bears the mark of Left-wing creatures of the night - is that Americans subconsciously empathise with a creature that survives by sucking the rest of the world dry.

Less sharp-toothed, and the theory I'd plump for, is that Americans still crave the wicked European aristocracy they fled.

Old World charmers with extensive knowledge of French wines, fine features and sophisticated foreplay are simply thinner on the ground here.

hahhahaThis what i hope from the finale :That the last words are .. "Soon we'll be back to normal," Bill said, "Right," I whispered. "Yeah. Back to normal." or some variation.I think they are WONDERUL LAST LINES for a book in which nothing is normal and I hope Ball does too.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson take a walk on the dark side in 'Twilight.'

The mass hysteria over the new movie "Twilight" is just one hint that the combination of the erotic and the macabre is back - front and center - in pop culture.

Long-fanged, tight-trousered heroes with a compulsion for neck-nuzzling are the new pinup boys. And black-clad vampires are, well, the new black.

Emo music is more popular than ever - its angsty undertones are the perfect soundtrack to an afternoon spent curled up with one of the "Twilight" books or even the "True Blood" saga, which Alan Ball has turned into a series for HBO.

CBS tried a vamp show last season (cunningly called "Twilight"), while the gay network Here! has a raunchy, fang-y soap called "The Lair." Even Sylar and Peter Petrelli on NBC's "Heroes" have Dracula-like powers to suck the life force from hapless fellow superhumans.

And while the teen set has propelled the vamp vibe into the cultural stratosphere, even grownup New Yorkers are getting in on the chilling action. "I had a moment where I had to come out with my interest in geeky stuff - it's a great escapism, but I've had to own it," says Max Wixom, 30, a publicist from Manhattan.

Wixom and a group of friends have cobbled together a casual book club that would have Oprah's blood boiling: reading different vampire novels each month from Laurell K. Hamilton to Sherilyn Kenyon.

"We're not really in a Transylvania moment," he says of the trend. "We're moving Vlad away from his boogey monster to a romanticized figure that's beautiful. We're taking it to the next level of embracing the darkness."

Vampire chic is so chic, it has invaded the world of beauty. This season, makeup is more Robert Smith than raunchy supermodel. "Everywhere you look, people are using black eyeliner for lip-liner and putting red lipstick over that to give you very deep blood-red lips," says Dior Beauty's Ricky Wilson.

The brand's new dark gray, silver and blue palette called Twilight has just hit makeup counters, while Lancome's dabbling in goth glamour for the first time, offering a limited-edition black lip shine, Color Fever Gloss in Piha Black, at Bloomingdale's. It launched with a mile-long wait list.

"Normally, with everyday makeup, you go light on eyes and dark on lips or vice versa, but now you see a ton of pale skin with dark, black, smoky eyes and dark, rich blood-red lips," says Wilson.

Creature of the night couture is surfacing in fashion, too. "There are special editions of magazines that emphasize fashion to die for, the dark side - like ID's September issue: It was all vampy and gothic," explains fashion historian Valerie Steele. She has just curated a new show at the Fashion Institute of Technology called "Gothic: Dark Glamour" and believes that this esthetic has been returning, slowly, since the millennium flipped.

"The vampy thing is immensely sexy, but it's always going to be a minority taste - most people are more into the sunshine kind of feeling," says Steele, chuckling. "But minority taste will emerge periodically in reaction to all that banal, let's-be-cheery stuff."

Take New York's collections: hugely popular Rodarte, a standard-bearer of gothic glamour, showed dark, dripping, slashed knit dresses for - of all seasons - happy-go-lucky spring.

In the book Bill and Sookie talk about pregnancy/contraception in TB they don't

bk 1--Bill and Sookie talk"I don't know." The words jerked out of me. "Do you know, I didn't know if you could do it?"His eyebrows rose interrogatively. "Do ... ?""Get—" and I stopped, trying to think of a pleasant way to put it. I'd seen more crudity this evening than I'd seen in my lifetime, and I didn't want to add to it. "An erection," I said, avoiding his eyes."You know better now." He sounded like he was trying not to be amused. "We can have sex, but we can't make children or have them. Doesn't it make you feel better, that Diane can't have a baby?"My fuses blew. I opened my eyes and looked at him steadily."Don't—you—laugh—at—me."

Bk 2 --talking about Bill's human family ( see genealogy section here for tons more on this )Their names were there, too.Thomas Charles Compton, b. 1859. She'd gotten pregnant right after they'd married, then. I would never have Bill's baby.Sarah Isabelle Compton, b. 1861.Named after her aunt (Bill's sister) and her mother. She'd been born around the time Bill had left for the war.Lee Davis Compton, b. 1866. A homecoming baby.Died 1867, a different hand had added."Babies died like flies then," Bill whispered. "We were so poor after the war, and there wasn't any medicine."

bk 4-- sookie thinks about sex with alcideI glanced over at Alcide and sighed. This man was just about perfect in many respects. I liked the way he looked, I understood the way he thought, and he treated me with great consideration and respect.Sure, he was a werewolf, but I could give up a couple of nights of month. True, according to Alcide it would be difficult for me to carry his baby to term, but it was at least possible. Pregnancy wasn't part of the picture with a vampire.Whoa. Alcide hadn't offered to father my babies, and he was still seeing Debbie. What had happened to her engagement to the Clausen guy?

bk 4 --after Eric thoughtsCall me stereotypical. I'd spent the night with a man who'd told me I was beautiful, a man who'd enjoyed me and who'd given me intense pleasure. He had touched me and held me and laughed with me. We weren't in danger of making a baby with our pleasures, because vampires just can't do that. I wasn't being disloyal to anyone (though I'll admit I'd had a few pangs when I thought of Bill), and neither was Eric. I couldn't see the harm.

bk 7 --with Quinn“I think I’ll skip the second course and go right to dessert,” he whispered, his voice darkand ragged. "Are you ready, babe? You sound ready. You feel ready.”“I am so ready,” I said, reaching down between us to wrap my hand around his length. Hequivered all over when I touched him. He rolled on the condom.“Now,” he growled. “Now!” I guided him to my entrance, thrust my hips up to meet him.

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe -- "Gift Wrap" short storyPreston ( who is not a were as he presented himself to be but was in fact a fairy) seduces her through magic on Christmas eve and they have sex multiple times (unprotected) his visit has been arranged by Sookie's Grandfather, Niall.

Here is the scene:When I turned around after drawing the last drape, Preston was behind me, and then he had his arms around me, and then he was kissing me. I swam to the surface to say, “I don’t really . . .”“Pretend you found me gift-wrapped under the tree,” he whispered. “Pretend you have mistletoe.”It was pretty easy to pretend both those things. Several times. Over hours.When I woke up Christmas morning, I was as relaxed as a girl can be. It took me a while to figure out that Preston was gone; and while I felt a pang, I also felt just a bit of relief. I didn’t know the guy, after all, and even after we’d been up close and personal, I had to wonder how a day alone with him would have gone. He’d left me a note in the kitchen.“Sookie, you’re incredible. You saved my life and gave me the best Christmas Eve I’ve ever had. I don’t want to get you in any more trouble. I’ll never forget how great you were in every way.” He’d signed it.I felt let down, but oddly enough I also felt happy. It was Christmas Day. I went in and plugged in the lights on the tree, and sat on the old couch with my grandmother’s afghan wrapped around me, which still smelled faintly of my visitor.

** I have been told that in a Q&A on Charlaine Harris blog CH did say that Sookie is not pregnant from this encounter.

Season 1 - Episode 6Arlene does wonder but is incorrectSuppose she gets pregnant...How can she nurse a baby with fangs?!

HBO"True Blood" is based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. Anna Paquin plays the main character, Sookie Stackhouse. To introduce her to the TV audience, the show chose Robbie Fulks' song "Goodbye Good Lookin'."

When a vampire and a mortal hop into the bathtub for a candlelight cuddle, not just any song will do.

The same goes for the music at a bloodsuckers' bar, where snarling dancers swirl for customers at supernatural speeds.

Demon chasers, serial killers and shape-shifters thrive on a particular soundtrack, especially in a swampy town in northern Louisiana. And if the focal point is a rowdy roadhouse called Merlotte's, the jukebox is bound to play some Steve Earle, Wayne "The Train" Hancock and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Welcome to the sonic world of "True Blood," Alan Ball's latest TV series for HBO. The Georgia-born creator of "Six Feet Under" has built a reputation for his music tastes, injecting tunes into each episode to achieve subtle or potent effects. This campy-sexy-contemporary vampire saga is no exception.

"There's a built-in sound to 'True Blood' because of the regionality," says Gary Calamar, who works with Ball as a music supervisor. "There are a good 10-plus songs in every show, and the main setting calls for classic blues to new Southern rock to Americana. There's also industrial and Goth, lots of heavy, dark beats."

Calamar, 53, has a huge mental flip-file of songs at his disposal, after more than two decades in the music retail and radio businesses in Los Angeles. He's the programmer and host of a Sunday night show, "The Open Road," on KCRW-FM, and a veteran at managing record stores for chains and independents.

As a music supervisor, Calamar's credits include "Six Feet Under," "House," "Dexter," "Weeds," "Entourage" and "Swingtown." He's also been part of the team for several films.

"The trend on television these days is music, music, music," Calamar says. "Some network shows use it as padding. Fortunately, in the case of 'True Blood,' we're using it artistically and creatively. And the budget, although not extraordinary, allows us to use a lot of good music."

Tonight's episode at 8 p.m., which concludes the first season of "True Blood," is likely to leave viewers gasping from a dramatic cliff-hanger. Calamar's not authorized to be a spoiler, but you can bet that he helped to choose the crucial tune that plays over the closing credits.

That's a music supervisor's job, he says, along with securing permissions to use the songs and handling the licensing fees.

SPECIALGary Calamar, music supervisor for "True Blood," says songs for the TV series usually are added after scenes are filmed. Although choosing the tunes is a team effort, the show's creator, Alan Ball, has the final say. "He's the last word on 'True Blood,' but he doesn't abuse his power," Calamar says. For more on Calamar, see his Web site.

When decisions are made for "True Blood," Ball rules supreme. Calamar says his boss has the last word on song selection, and has a firm notion of how each piece of music supports the plot and visuals.

Case in point: the show's opening theme, "Bad Things," by Nashville singer-songwriter Jace Everett. Ball discovered the track on iTunes and was a strong advocate.

Although Calamar says he liked its sharp, snarky, country-blues vibe, he challenged himself to find something better, scouring his music library and searching the Internet for alternatives.

"It was a nice little exercise to try to beat it, but Alan's instincts were right," Calamar says. "It's a fantastic song that mixes up the menace with humor and wit."

Composer Nathan Barr handles the show's original score, contributing instrumental motifs for characters such as Sookie and Bill, the telepathic waitress and courtly vampire at the heart of the narrative.

Still, the bulk of the "True Blood" soundtrack comes from existing music. Ball has encouraged Calamar to let his imagination run wild in that regard, shunning pieces that are traditionally spooky or deadly serious.

The eerie theme from "Dark Shadows" or wrenching strings from "Psycho"? Not on "True Blood," unless they're employed in an ironic or humorous way. Calamar says Ball wants the soundtrack to be current and clever, to startle and tickle its listeners, to "walk the thin line between fun and cheesy."

That's the specialty of acts such as Country Fried, the Legendary Shack Shakers, Robbie Fulks and Southern Culture on the Skids, all of whom have been heard on "True Blood." The show also leans to oddball covers (Cobra Verde's rendition of "Play with Fire," for instance), and authentic doses of Cajun and zydeco music.

Two groups with Birmingham connections, Little Big Town and Vallejo, have provided atmosphere as the closers of early episodes, with the songs "Bones" and "Snake in the Grass," respectively.

That's a happy accident, Calamar says; he and Ball made no effort to link the soundtrack to Alabama. However, the state's proximity to Louisiana, and its Southern rock and country roots, fit snugly into the "True Blood" aesthetic.

Web sites such as True-Blood.tv and True Blood Wiki serve as music archives for fans, posting lists of the songs played, clips of available tunes and/or links to relevant band sites.

SPECIALLouisiana's C.C. Adcock "has been a good friend to the show," says Gary Calamar.

There, viewers will realize that each episode has been named after a certain tune on the soundtrack, such as "Burning House of Love" by the Knitters, "The First Taste" by Fiona Apple, "Escape from Dragon House" by Dengue Fever or "Cold Ground" by Mark Seliger's Rusty Truck.

A compilation CD linked to the first season already is under way, Calamar says, and should be released next year. With such a rich array of music at hand, the selection process is bound to be teeth-gritting. Dr. John or Johnny Cash? The Watson Twins or the Felice Brothers? Cat Power or the Dixie Chicks?

Calamar says he'll be pushing for a track by C.C. Adcock of Lafayette, La., who has provided several songs for the series, including the very first piece played after the theme song on Episode 1, "Y'all'd Think She'd Be Good 2 Me." (Adcock also appeared on Episode 10, playing with his band at an engagement party.)

"Putting together the music for this show is a hard cocktail," Calamar says. "It has to be scary and funny and tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes it's heartbreaking. I'll find what I think is the perfect song, and we'll end up going with something else. It's a big collaboration and compromise."

THEY DON'T BITE:

Here's a "True Blood" sampler, siphoned from the first 11 episodes:

"Bones," Little Big Town

"I Don't Wanna Know About Evil," Dr. John

"Rolex," Tchaka Diallo

APJohnny Cash's "The Fourth Man in the Fire" can be heard on Episode 8. It's from the box set "Unearthed," released in 2003.

HBO's hit vampire series gives five good reasons to love the undeadBy Cynthia JoyceSenior Editor

You say you don’t understand the current resurgence of interest in vampires? Don’t worry—most of the characters (the mortal ones, anyway) on Alan Ball’s HBO hit series “True Blood” would probably sympathize. Ever since “mainstreaming” vampires came out of the coffin and took up residence in the tiny fictional town of Bon Temps, La., the locals there have been struggling to figure out the fascination with vampires, too, and, like you, they kind of resent the disruption. Moreover, they don’t know what it means now that this influx of newcomers has upset the status quo seemingly overnight, and now threatens to make them a minority in their own hometown.

But it's that plausible reaction to the show’s impossible premise that’s behind “True Blood’s” surprising appeal, even among viewers who aren’t naturally inclined toward tales of the supernatural. If you’ve been resisting it, here are five reasons to give in before Sunday’s night’s season finale — or at least before the new season starts next summer.

1. Dialogue is realistic, even if circumstances aren’tEqual parts soap opera, murder mystery, genre fiction and Harlequin romance, “True Blood” is centered on the steamy love affair between the wise-but-innocent Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and the dashing vampire Bill Compton, (Stephen Moyer) who's been technically dead since the Civil War. Despite the fact he’s no longer human, Bill is committed to maintaining his humanity and subscribes to a strict moral code of his own making — one better suited to the 19th century, presumably — and his earnestness in modern contexts is as embarrassing as it is charming. In these days of instant-but-still-distant communication, it's a kick to watch Sookie and Bill's face-to-face rapport evolve and realize that it's really the age difference, not the trifling details about who's "dead" and who's "alive," that causes some of their most awkward conflicts.

When Bill is forced to atone for having slayed one of his own kind to protect Sookie, he kills an innocent human, and in so doing sacrifices his own honor. But Sookie, furious that he left her alone for several days without letting her know when he was coming back, still doubts his true intentions. “If vampire politics are more important than me, well…”

“Sookie, you have no idea what I’ve given up for you!” Bill says with the typical sternness of centuries-old men. But being only human, Sookie responds with a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately pout, and promptly kicks him out. (Mortals can be so petty sometimes.)

2. Some Southern stereotypes are trueCritics have given Ball a lot of grief for not straying very far from stereotypes with “True Blood,” and certainly he hasn’t shied away from exploiting some of the best Southern clichés. But he adheres to them knowingly, using them to poke fun at every brand of identity politics, which are exposed for their hypocrisy every time they come into play. Even honorable Bill is not immune from mockery; when he tries to force a new vampire to adopt his chosen lifestyle (eternity-style?), he suffers for having been so arrogant.

Even if the characters on “True Blood” do fit certain stereotypes, they also stretch beyond them. Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) may be a hustler, but he has only the highest standards when it comes to his friends and his food.

“What the [heck] is it with white people and Jell-O?” Lafayette asks Tara while surveying food brought over by nosy neighbors to Sookie’s house following the funeral of her grandmother. “You can smell the fear and nastiness coming off that.” His acerbic asides provide more than just comic relief; that scene sets up what might stand as the series’ single most touching moment as Sookie, finally alone in her kitchen after her beloved grandmother’s funeral, sobs silently as she eats an entire pie, the last Gran would ever bake for her.

Lafayette’s cousin Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley) is a saucy, uneducated girl who back-talks her boss, but she also reads Naomi Klein, and once you get past her affliction of an accent (which is really more Beale St. than Bayou country) you start to fully appreciate the depth of her wounds. (Incidentally, the horrendous accent of Rene Lenier, played by Michael Raymond James, is forgivable only because bona fide Cajun accents are hard to come by. “True Blood’s” producers would do well to check out WWOZ’s Sunday morning Cajun and Zydeco program at to hear an example of the real thing.)

3. Some of the best music you’ve already heardUnlike on HBO’s uber-hip “Entourage,” where the music leaves you feeling simultaneously energized and out-of-touch, “True Blood’s” music is barely audible, but never subtle. (Former KCRW host Gary Calamar serves as music supervisor for both.) There are no brilliant “Sopranos”-style juxtapositions here, just utterly believable background music, like when Sookie first encounters Bill and Lucinda Williams’ “Lake Charles” can be heard coming from inside the bar: “Did an angel whisper in your ear … and hold you close and take away your fear…”

Many of the best American roots artists are represented here (Wilco, Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch), and lesser known but equally great artists (CC Adcock, The Knitters, Eleni Mandell and Country Fried, just to name a few) fit in just as seamlessly. Most of them can be found on the “True Blood’s” nifty music wiki.

4. HBO’s deep benchDirector Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") is not the only HBO veteran on the "True Blood" set. Chris Bauer, who played Frank Sobotka on "The Wire,” plays the incompetent Bon Temps police detective Andy Bellefleur with perfectly timed comic effect to Sheriff Bud Dearborn's straightman (played by William Sanderson from "Deadwood"). And Alexander Skarsgård as the Viking-turned-vampire Eric is burdened once again with the oversight of ungrateful rookies as when he played Sgt. Brad 'Iceman' Colbert on “Generation Kill.”

5. There are no bluebloods in ‘True Blood’The (living) folks living in Bon Temps aren’t always honest — like the vampires, they’re not necessarily who they say they are — but they are hard-working and of humble means, and pretty much everyone here does what they have to do just to get by. There’s the drug store clerk who, as a part-time voodoo priestess, charges $800 a pop for exorcisms in order to pay for her diabetic son’s medications; the short order cook who dabbles in Web cam porn and deals V (vampire blood, which has an Ecstasy-like effect on humans); and even Sookie refuses to miss a shift at the restaurant, even if there is a murderer hunting her down.

Of course, “True Blood" would be remiss not to indulge in occasional displays of decadence, and, shot amid the decaying remains of colonial grandeur, the setting is a tragic character all its own. But generally speaking, there’s no ogling of ruling class excess — no Daddy’s Little Girl (in another nod to real-life, there are notably few daddy’s around, period), no fighting over family fortunes, and aside from the leather-wearing, vampire-clubbing Shreveport-set, no fashionistas. There is a civil rights struggle going on in Bon Temps, what with the passage of the VRA (Vampire Rights Act) still pending, but it isn’t about class warfare. And in these times of so much financial regret and resentment, such realism — even if it does come from a show about vampires — comes as a strangely welcome relief.

On our show a lot of the mythology about vampires - you can’t see them in a mirror, or holy water will burn them, or they can’t be in a room with a cross - all these sorts of things - were, in our world, made up by vampires themselves so they could prove they were not vampires when people were trying to out them and kill them. So, if someone held up a cross and they didn’t die, oh, you’re not a vampire. It was to protect themselves. And then there are certain things like silver - that is Kryptonite for vampires, but they don’t want anybody to know about it. They’ve kept their real weaknesses very, very quiet. They can’t go out at daytime, obviously - it sort of defeats the purpose of the vampire concept - and there are certain procedures for turning someone into a vampire. I don’t know how much of the stuff differs [compared] to other vampire shows because, as I say, I’ve never seen any. Staking [through the heart] still does what staking does. Although ours don’t turn into dust. Ours turn into what could only be described as a big pile of goo.

What less could one man want but to be human?No earthly hindrance bars such pure desireTo see and feel and think — existence provenIn harsh sun boiling blood through widening gyre —Illumination burns that which it feeds,Itself an end and means proves its own proofThat bakes white bodies black to darken deedsWhich darkness bade do nobly for man’s truth.A light loves less than both; denies the otherEnlightens naught but desperate miseryDenying selfless love its only loverDenying all but agency to seeThat he whose cursed manhood creeps by moonlightBy sacrificing sun enlightens night.

I fully admit that I was skeptical about True Blood after the first few episodes, but in the past five episodes or so, it has really blossomed into the kind of show that HBO hoped it would be: a hit. Heading into its finale this Sunday, the series has already moved into being the third most-watched series in HBO's history, behind only The Sopranos and Sex and the City. Part of the attraction has to do with the current Twilight phenomenon that's sweeping the nation, but I suspect that there would be an audience regardless of what's selling at Hot Topic.

But it was really when Lizzy Caplan came on as the V-is-for-more-than-vegan loving Amy that the series really started to take off. Sookie's brother Jason was getting to be annoying, but the chemistry between him and Amy contained real magic, and gave actor Ryan Kwanten more to do than strut around with his shirt off. Even the most annoying character, Tara (Rutina Wesley,) has now become a favorite (showing up drunk to an engagement party in a prom dress sealed the deal).

With the finale Sunday, the series' timing has been perfect. The fact that we already know who the killer is doesn't even ruin the suspense, as knowing the killer is just half the mystery here. (The reveal was subtle and I'm sure plenty missed it -- here it is.)

Besides the identity of the killer, we also know, by the title, that the episode will feature the Johnny Winter classic "You'll Be the Death of Me", since True Blood uses song titles as the episode titles. Winter, who has always kind of looked like a vampire, sings about a different kind of vampire: a lover bent on sucking the life out of him.

Who will die? Who will survive to make it to season 2 (already in production)? It's comforting knowing that the second season will be back sooner than expected, striking the coals while the vampire is hot. For those who need to catch up, there will be some marathons in December, including a big one New Year's Eve. And I have it on good authority that HBO will have a much quicker turnaround for releasing the first season on DVD than normal.